


Few and Far Between

by idrinkthat



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Forbidden Love, Kidnapping, Mystery, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-01-17 21:44:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12374715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrinkthat/pseuds/idrinkthat
Summary: Shadows in Riverdale only get darker.Jughead Jones had never prayed in his life.  When the only thing he ever loved was stolen right from under his nose, he made an exception.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first-ever fic. The reason I decided to write this is because I am a true sucker for ANGST, and I never found a fic that really hit home. So, I’m going to write one myself.
> 
> Also, if you’re looking for smut, you’re in the WRONG place. The story will be about mental and physical torture from a villain who is Joker-esque.
> 
> This is going to get dark. You’ve been warned.
> 
> Check me out on Tumblr @ruverdale :)

When Betty received the first threat, she thought it was a bluff.

It was three in the morning when she was woken with a series of furious thuds. Scrambling out of bed, Betty’s heart pounded. Who could be on the Cooper’s doorstep at a time like this, on the one night of the week when Alice and Hal were away?

Betty was never one to leave a mystery unsolved.

Pushing her bedroom door open painfully slowly, she thought of the possible suspects.

Not Archie. Archie always spoke to Betty through her window.

(Creeping down the hallway, avoiding all of the creaky floorboards—)

Not Veronica. She wouldn’t interrupt her beauty sleep for the world.

(Down the stairs, her own shallow breathing resonating through the air—)

Not Jughead. Betty knew he worked for the Southside Serpents every night now. God, she wished it was Jughead.

The pounding stopped abruptly as Betty approached her front door. She felt a pang of fear deep in her stomach. Trying not to panic, Betty turned the knob and opened the door.

No one. There was nobody outside.

Betty took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled. She was so sure someone was planning on killing her.

Taking a quick survey of her porch, Betty found nothing out of the ordinary.

_Except for a perfectly-folded white envelope sitting in a patch of moonlight at her feet._

Betty stooped to pick it up and, after glancing around the looming houses of her neighborhood once more, stepped back into the safety of her home. She headed straight to the kitchen and sat down at the dinner table.

Dread filled her entire body. It was a thousand-pound weight that dragged her further and further into the hardwood floor. Betty opened the pristine, crisp edges of the letter only to draw out a roughly-torn slice of notebook paper. Reading the words hastily scribbled in black ink, it said:

_Pretty thing, you belong to me. I’ve been watching you. We’ll meet soon._

Betty couldn’t breathe.

She ran upstairs and shoved the letter in her dresser. Climbing back into bed, a bit of feeling slowly crept back into her frigid muscles. It was probably just a joke. She didn’t need to worry.

Betty didn’t fall back asleep.

 

-

 

Before she left for school, Betty decided that she overreacted. The note was some sick prank that was probably concocted by some sick jock. Betty made the choice not to tell anyone about the letter, especially not Jughead. Ever since the “Go To Hell, Serpent Slut” incident, he had acted like her bodyguard. She smiled to herself. He would likely murder whoever wrote the letter.

 

-

 

“Hey, B! You okay?”

“Hm?” Betty frowned. She was currently sitting with Veronica, Archie, and Kevin at lunch. She couldn’t stop thinking about the note from last night (technically this morning, really) and was having a mental argument with herself when Veronica’s voice snapped her out of it.

“I asked if you and Jughead were still up for meeting at Pop’s after cheer practice,” Veronica spoke slowly, looking at Betty as if she had grown a second head.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, we’ll be there,” Betty quickly replied, “Kevin, you want to join?”

“Ah, thanks for the offer, but I already told my dad I’d help organize his files. He tells me he needs a personal secretary of sorts, and because I’m still looking for a decent job, he wants me to do it,” Kevin frowned. “As if I didn’t do enough around the house already. Plus, I’d rather not be the fifth wheel.”

Archie looked up from his sheet music, which he’d been scribbling on fervently for the past week. “Everything okay, Betty? You’ve been kinda distant today.”

_You belong to me…_

“Yeah, Arch,” Betty answered.

_I’ve been watching you…_

“I’m fine.”

She sure did feel like she was being watched.

 

-

 

After spending the past hour in the gym with Cheryl Blossom, who bullied the entire team of River Vixens for fun, Betty waved to Veronica. Veronica responded with a “see you soon”, and Betty walked outside to the football field.

Her uneasiness vanished the second she spotted Jughead waiting underneath the bleachers. The shadows hung over his stony beanie-clad head, his Serpent jacket glinting in the faint streams of sunlight that peeked between the seats overhead.

Jughead had apparently been in deep thought. As soon as he noticed Betty making her way over to him, the deadly tough-guy expression he wore around the Serpents (and the rest of the world) melted away. The soft, goofy, romantic Jughead that Betty knew and loved so much came back. He reserved this side of himself only for her. “Hey, you,” he called, with a adorably happy grin on his face.

Beaming, Betty jogged across the parking lot and threw herself into his leather-clad arms. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and their lips met in a clumsy, smiling kiss. After what felt like minutes, they broke apart.

“Hi,” Betty grinned.

“How’s my girl doing?”

Betty chose to avoid discussing the creepy message she received. “Same as usual. You already know what I’m going to say.”

“Cheryl?” Jughead laughed. His dark curls fell shaggily over his eyes. “Again?”

“Yep,” Betty sighed. Jughead reached for her hand, completely enveloping it, and pulled her across the parking lot to his motorcycle. He tossed Betty his helmet and revved up the engine.

Betty decided to go for the forbidden topic: “How was Southside High?”

Jughead, who was facing away from Betty as he wiped grime off his bike, completely froze.

Betty thought he was upset. She had tried to discuss his new school before, but Jughead refused to open up. She understood that he was sort of obligated to do some work for the Serpents because of who his father was. Jughead had some standards to live up to if he wanted to keep living in FP’s trailer. The Serpents paid his bills. Betty didn’t want to believe that he was up to no good, but why else would he be so insistent on keeping every aspect of his new life away from her?

Jughead spun around towards Betty suddenly. He reached out to her for a second, as if he wanted to reassure her, but decided against it. The smile on his face was forced.  Betty could tell. “It’s fine. Nothing…out of the ordinary.”

His defenses were back up. There was definitely something going on that he didn’t want her to know about. A surge of confusion and sadness swept through Betty’s body. What was making him act so strangely around her lately? Jughead was always so sweet and gentle to her before he switched schools. He still was, but in a way he seemed to be growing distant.

They always communicated their problems. Betty and Jughead never kept secrets from each other. Now, it seemed there were a million things he was keeping from her.

Then again, Betty kept a secret as well. Maybe it was a good idea to talk later.

“By the way, Jug, I told Ronnie we’d meet her and Archie at Pop’s,” Betty changed the subject quickly. “We should probably head over there now.”

“Alright, let’s go,” he replied with an unreadable expression.

Jughead got on the motorcycle with ease. Betty, after securing the helmet onto her head, pulled herself up behind him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, buried her face into his shoulder, and then they were off.

 

-

 

As they walked up to the entrance of Pop’s, Betty noticed that Jughead was on edge. He wrapped his arm around her waist, which wasn’t new, but he did it in a protective manner. He pulled her close to his side as if he had to guard her from something. Or someone. Betty looked at Jughead’s eyes in hope of some hint as to what was wrong. His baby blue eyes were wide, staring almost nervously at Pop’s Diner.

Betty remained confused until she caught sight of a group of motorcycles clustered in the lot, taking up handicapped parking spaces. _Some of his Serpent friends must be here,_ she thought. But why would that make him concerned?

When they entered the diner, Betty felt the soft glow of the “open” sign. Warmth hugged her body. She immediately caught sight of Archie and Veronica waiting in their usual booth by the window. The raven-haired girl and her ginger companion both waved at the new arrivals happily.

Jughead still seemed distracted. He was warily eyeing a group of boisterous Southside Serpents on the opposite side of the diner.

“C’mon, Jug, let’s go,” Betty said softly. That seemed to bring Jughead back to his senses. He shifted his gaze to Betty’s doe-like eyes and gave her a gentle smile. Jughead led her to the booth and, after letting Betty slide into the seat, came in next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

 

-

 

Jughead was screwed.

Although he was currently sitting in a booth at Pop’s with his best friends, a strawberry milkshake and a huge plate of fries in front of him, his mind was elsewhere. All he could ever think of now was the approaching danger. It was as if his entire world was sitting on a time bomb, and Jughead had no idea how close it was to going off.

Ever since Jughead transferred to Southside High, he had become more and more affiliated with the Serpents. At first, they had asked him for tiny favors.  Steal some small things from drugstores, threaten some guys who owed money, grab some wallets. Doing what the Serpents asked kept a roof over his head. They gave him bits of cash for food. He knew what they were making him do was wrong, but the things they asked him to do didn’t affect anybody that much.

That stuff was _nothing_ compared to what they wanted from him now.

That fateful night, Jughead had just gotten back to the trailer after a movie at the Bijou with Betty. He came inside to find eight Southside Serpents waiting for him. They told him that they wanted him dealing more than just money.

They wanted him to deal drugs.

Jughead had absolutely refused. He couldn’t end up in jail like FP had. There was still hope that, somehow, he could have a future. Most of all, he had morals. Jughead was no criminal. He always thought of himself as the good guy. Dealing drugs? _Never_.

The Serpents did not take no for an answer.

They told him they would take away everything he had. Jughead had laughed at the time, telling them to try. They could take away his home—that had happened before. He could handle it.

The Serpent leader, Mustang, had been quiet up until that point. He pulled a cluster of photographs from the inside of his leather jacket and threw them on the coffee table.

The photos were of Betty.

Betty leaving cheerleading practice, Betty sitting with Jughead at Pop’s.

Betty sleeping in her bedroom.

When Jughead saw those photos, he couldn’t breathe.

Disgustingly hot breath prickling Jughead’s neck, Mustang hissed detailed descriptions into his ear of all the things he would do to Betty if Jughead didn’t do exactly as he said.

He still remembered the exact words Mustang used. The threat was _real_. The things Mustang said made Jughead want to kill.

Jughead could never risk Betty getting hurt. He knew _exactly_ what the Serpents were capable of doing. They tortured and murdered rival gang members, leaving the bodies beyond recognition.  Some things they did were horrifying.

He was scared to death. They couldn’t hurt his Betty. His angel. The light of his entire life. Jughead would _die_ before he let them touch her.

So, he had agreed to start dealing drugs.

Jughead became accustomed to the danger—he had nearly been arrested multiple times. He had to leave Betty in the dark about all of this; if she knew, she would never let him put himself in harm’s way.

Things hadn’t seemed so bad. They were actually looking up. The Serpents left him alone, unless they had a new deal.

The creepiest part about the whole ordeal was how Mustang had taken an almost maniacal interest in Betty.

It started out subtle, with questions about her personality and what Jughead liked about her. Jughead avoided these questions however he could without getting Mustang angry. Eventually, it progressed to a point where he wanted to know where she lived. When Jughead, who was immensely freaked out by this, asked why, Mustang replied “If you’re not around, I can give her messages for you.”

That terrified Jughead more than anything.

He couldn’t ignore Mustang; God knows what he’d do. Jughead avoided him at all costs.

And made sure to keep Betty as far away from the Southside as physically possible.

Now, he was watching Betty laugh joyously at Archie’s jokes at Pop’s. Jughead felt a pang of guilt for leaving her so oblivious to the situation. When they arrived at Pop’s and he saw the Serpents’ signature motorcycles, Jughead knew that this was their message to him. They were always watching.

He turned around in the booth. Mustang made eye contact with him from the other side in Pop’s and gave him a malicious smile. A smile that told Jughead he wasn’t safe.

 _Betty_ wasn’t safe.

Jughead’s grip on Betty’s shoulder tightened.

He was so lucky to have her. Betty was the kind of beautiful you can only dream of. Honey blonde hair, innocent green eyes— _God_ , Jughead adored her. She was witty, intelligent, and the only person in town who could stand a chance against him in a debate. Betty was sweeter than sugar, sweeter than cupcakes, sweeter than pretty much anything. Jughead admired her ferocity when it came to protecting the people she loved. She was determined and had never given up on anything in her life. Jughead would never love anyone the way he loved Betty. Never.

He would do absolutely anything for Betty Cooper.

Anything.

Jughead’s face darkened.

_Anything._

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Giving a bit of a backstory to Betty and Jughead’s relationship in this story since it wasn’t explored in chapter 1!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re just getting started.

“They say we are asleep until we fall in love.

We are children of dust and ashes.

But when we fall in love we wake up,

and we are a God, and angels weep.”

_(Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812)_

 

-

 

_(Note: the next few sections occur in the past; the beginning of Betty and Jughead’s romance. The first paragraph does state that it’s a few months ago, but I want to make sure no one misses it and gets confused. I’ll add another note where the flashbacks are over!)_

 

Stargazing was a regular pastime for Betty and Jughead, even before they began dating.

It started months ago. One night, as Betty lay sobbing in her bed after another seemingly heartless rejection by Archie, there had been a soft rapping at her window. Betty stumbled across her room and lifted the glass to find Jughead Jones, her closest friend, standing on her father’s ladder.

Jughead had heard what happened with Archie. He was well aware of how stupid Archie could be when it came to girls.

Betty had always been there for Jughead when his father came home in a drunken state, bellowing and smashing furniture. Betty was there for Jughead when his mother and sister moved to Toledo, leaving him stranded. Betty was the person keeping him going. She was _it_ for him.

He made sure he was there for her when _she_ needed it, too.

So that one night, Jughead dried Betty’s tear-stained cheeks and held her. He coaxed her from her room and onto the roof.

That night, Betty’s head on his shoulder and Jughead’s arm around her waist, they found something new.

A shooting star fell.

Unknowingly, they both wished for the exact same thing.

 

-

 

Around one month later, Betty was laying in her room, drifting off to sleep. It was midnight. Rain was pouring outside, slamming against the roof and sides of the house.

Most people hated storms. Betty embraced them.

A loud thud slammed against her window. Her eyelids jolted open, heart pounding. Betty rushed to the window to find a drenched Jughead Jones waiting outside on the ladder.

“Jughead, what are you doing? We can’t see any stars tonight, it’s too cloudy,” Betty whisper-yelled. The howling wind nearly drowned out her words.

Jughead wasn’t wearing his beanie. That should have been Betty’s first sign that something was different.

He swiped away the long, dark hair that was plastered to his forehead. “I need to show you something, Betty.”

His face was stone-cold serious.

Betty didn’t hesitate. Although she was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts, she climbed out of her window and clambered down after Jughead.

By the time Betty’s bare toes reached the soft, damp grass, Jughead had already made his way across her front yard to the sidewalk. She scrambled after him to keep up.

“You know,” Jughead spoke, staring straight ahead of them as they walked, “I never said you weren’t allowed to wear a coat, Betty.”

He began to pull off his already-soaked sherpa jacket when Betty stopped him, muttering, “It’s actually really warm, Jug. I’m fine.”

And with that, the two broke into a sprint.

They ran through Betty’s dimly-lit neighborhood, rain insistently attacking every inch of their skin. A hazy fog crept down the street, blurring the path ahead.

They were just two kids, in the dead of night, in the pouring rain, running away from their lives together.

Even though she knew it was only for one night, Betty had never felt so alive.

Five minutes later, the duo reached the esteemed Riverdale High School. Jughead silently led her around the building, across the parking lot, and to the football field, barely visible due to the layer of fog coating the grass.

Jughead slowly walked towards the center of the field, Betty following close behind. She watched him carefully. His shoulders were heaving from the long sprint they had just done, head lowered and angled away from her. He appeared to be in deep thought, as if he were trying to convince himself of something.

Then, Betty looked up.

_Stars._

Right above the football field, there was a break between the moonlit clouds. She could see what seemed like millions of bright, glowing stars. Light streamed through the crack and illuminated the hazy fog surrounding the two kids.

When Betty looked back down at Jughead, his eyes were trained on her. Her heart constricted tightly.

“Is this what you wanted me to see?” Betty asked softly. Rain thudded down her cheeks, dripped from her fingertips, plastered her hair around her face. She didn’t care one bit.

“Yeah. I was passing through, and I noticed…” Jughead motioned towards the sky. He took a few tentative steps towards Betty. He was positioned perfectly—the light from the stars poured onto the side of his face. It was as if a spotlight was beaming down on the two of them. “I knew you’d be the only person in Riverdale who would appreciate it as much as I do.”

Betty stepped closer, heart pounding. She felt the cool rain seeping through her clothes, but somehow, she was burning up. “You’ve always been the one who knows me best, Jug.”

Jughead’s face was unreadable. His eyes looked at her so tenderly, with a layer of nervousness hidden underneath.

It was in that moment she knew.

She knew what she had been feeling for so long.

It was him. It had always been him, and it always would be.

The rain, the field, the sky—everything around them disappeared. In that moment, there was just them. Betty and Jughead.

All she could see was him.

They both started moving simutaneously, closing the gap between them in a few short strides. One of Jughead’s hands found the back of her head, entangling and weaving itself within the soaking wet blonde locks. The other tenderly brushed a strand of hair from her eyes.

Betty’s hand flew up to cover Jughead’s, rubbing her thumb against the rough skin. Her wide, green eyes darted back and forth between his intense icy blue ones. Hot breath fluttered against their cheeks, neither one knowing nor caring whose it was.

The way he was looking at her— _God, the way he looked at her—_

A small smile tugged at the corner of Jughead’s lips as he muttered,

“I still have a lot to learn.”

And with that, Betty grabbed the lapels of Jughead’s drenched jacket and pulled his lips to hers.

The kiss was sweet and gentle, yet full of a passion and a fire that ripped through each of their bodies like a knife. It both satisfied a primal hunger that neither knew existed, yet made them yearn for more, more, _more_ …

It wasn’t enough, it never could _be_ enough. Jughead was kissing her like he was suffocating and she was his oxygen. Like he was an addict and she was his drug. Like his entire life depended on this single moment.

Their lips battled, pushing and pulling and fighting but loving all the same. Rain coated their bodies and melded them together. Betty was pulling Jughead down to meet her, her body melting into the warmth of his. Her knees, weak with the sheer _needing to kiss him_ , nearly gave out. Jughead’s arms were strong, moving down to firmly grasp her waist and pull her back to him.

Neither of them could breathe, but they really didn’t care.

After what may have had been days, they slowly broke apart.

Betty’s hands were still clutching his face, Jughead’s hands clutching her hips to his. They stood in the center of the football field and simply stared at each other.

The world slowly reappeared around them. The rain seemed to fall faster, the light from the stars shined brighter. Time had been stopped and was just starting to continue again.

Everything had changed.

 

 

_(Note: flashbacks are over! Back to the current story!)_

 

-

 

Two weeks had gone by since Jughead saw Mustang and the Serpents at Pop’s.

Betty and Jughead were sitting on the roof of the Cooper household in the dead of night, gazing at the mesmerizing swirls of stars above them. Like splatters of white paint thrown across a deep blue canvas, the vast night sky seemed to swallow Riverdale. It swallowed the entire horizon, as if the sky was there only for the young lovers wrapped in each others’ arms.

Betty was sitting between Jughead’s legs, back leaning against his chest. He had insisted that she wear his leather Serpent jacket, the dark material warming her frigid skin. Jughead’s arms were tightly wrapped around her shoulders.

The sky had placed them in a hypnotic trance, one they never wanted to be brought out of. It was moments like these Jughead wished he could live in forever. No Serpents, no Mustang. No Northside or Southside keeping them apart.

Just Betty and him against the world.

“Juggie?”

Jughead shifted his head so his lips were buried in her hair. “Hm.”

“Let’s run away together.”

Jughead stiffened, unsure if he had heard her correctly. He spoke calmly yet with a touch of uncertainty, “Run away?”

Betty sat up and turned to face him, sitting on her knees. She wrapped his arms around his neck and looked him directly in the eye. Her eyes were sparkling nervously, awaiting his reaction. She didn’t take her words back. “Let’s run away. We could do it. You and me, we could make it.”

Jughead simply stared at her. He didn’t have to think long at all.

“Okay.”

 

-

 

They planned their departure in secret. Each of them would bring all of the savings they had, along with all the clothes and food they could cram into a couple small duffel bags.

They would meet in the middle of the night in a week’s time, right next to the border between Riverdale and Greendale. Neither of them would leave any explanation as to where they would go. If they got the chance later on, they would call their families and explain everything. They wouldn’t be returning.

Betty and Jughead didn’t know where they would go, or how they would travel. They just needed to get out of Riverdale.

They didn’t think anyone knew they were planning on leaving.

They were wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand if everyone hates me for being a terrible updater. Sorry. But I write for me, not for you. I’ll update when the inspiration strikes.
> 
> I’m much more active on Tumblr! Check me out @ruverdale :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is only the beginning. More to come. I hope you guys enjoy it so far!!! Please give kudos and let me know what you think in the comments!  
> You can be nice or be rude, I honestly don’t care I laugh literally everything off these days lol


End file.
